


Red Carneau

by KuroNezushi



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Actress Grell, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Racing pigeon shop, Trans Female Character, human! Will, human!Grell, top model Sebastian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-15 16:19:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9243755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroNezushi/pseuds/KuroNezushi
Summary: Grell is a famous actress married to top model Sebastian Michaelis, to everyone she has a perfect life, everything she ever dreamed of but things are not always the way they seem...One day she goes back to her hometown town and sees her childhood best friend and first love and they haven't spoken in over 7 years, what will happen?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The tags will be updated as the story progresses.  
> I hope you guys like it~ Enjoy!~

 

"I swear I'll find you; if you dare to touch a single hair of my daughter's head I'll kill you." Grell screamed into the fake phone before making it look like she was hanging up and sent it flying across the room.

"CUT!" A voice behind her yelled. There she stood, in the set of her new movie, filming her last scene of the week.

"Great job everyone, you can all go home now, have a good weekend!" Mr. Michaelis, the director said after raising from his chair.

Grell started walking to her dressing room when someone called her.

"Grell, wait up!" It was the voice of Ronald, her best friend and coworker.

"Ronnie!" She smiled at him "you were great in the last scene, I wish we’d have more scenes together, I miss having you on the set all the time.” She said as they entered her dressing room.

“I miss it too, Senpai!” he said as he quickly averted his eyes from his friend as she started to get out of her shirt “Geez, Grell, you could have warned me before starting to change…” Ronald tried his best not to look at Grell but his eyes quickly went back on her as he saw the purple bruises on her back, her lower back and sides were marked with older bruises, green ones that were beginning to heal but those ones were new, freshly made.

“Did he hit you again?” he asked, his voice low as clenched his fists.

Grell looked at Ronald over her shoulder and swallowed. “It’s nothing, really. I don’t even feel pain anymore.” She answered as she put a new shirt and turned around to face her friend.

Ronald looked at her with narrowed eyes as she pulled her hair out of her shirt.

“I don’t understand, why don’t you just leave him already?!” he knew he had already asked that a thousand times but he couldn’t help but keep on asking, at least until he’d get an answer out of her.

“Please Ronnie, I don’t want to talk about this.” She said, turning her face away. Of course she’d answer this, she never gave him a straight answer, always trying to skip the subject. They were supposed to be best friends but never in their years of friendship had she opened up about this to him. He knew what happened but only because he had seen it happen and stopped it once.

“What are you doing this week? Are you going somewhere?” Grell asked as she toyed with a lock of red hair.

“Nah, I’m just going to stay at home, relax and enjoy my week of vacation before having to go back on set.”

Grell clapped her hands “Great! Then you’ll be coming with me!” Ronald frowned, “Going where?”

“To my home town, it’s the anniversary of my mother and sister’s death and I’d like to visit their grave.”

“Are you sure it’s okay? I mean… are you… _allowed_ to go?” He asked slowly.

“He’s not here to stop me. Sebastian left last night to Milan for the fashion show and comes back at the end of the week, we’ll be back before then, please Ronnie, I don’t want to go alone, it’s the first time since their death that I’ll be going back there…”

“Alright, I’ll come with you!” Grell’s eyes lit up as she heard her friend’s answer and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, thank you! I’ll pick you up at 7h and we’ll go to the airport.” Ronald chuckled as he realized that Grell had already planned everything in advance. “As you wish, Senpai.”

 

It was 8 o’clock when they arrived at the airport, they had packed lightly, only traveling with a small luggage, Grell had also her hand bag with her. They were both wearing black sunglasses and black masks that covered their noses and mouth in order for them not to be recognized.

“Grell, remind me again why you’re using a red coat? We’re not supposed to be recognized, your hair is already obvious enough, you should have dressed differently.” Ronald mentioned as they waited in line to board the plane. Grell gasped dramatically “Ronnie, how could you say I should have dressed differently, I never wear anything other than red…” she said as she inspected her manicured red nails. In her other hand, she was holding a bouquet of white roses.

 

The trip was short and they sat comfortably in their first class seats, unfortunately they had to take two planes to get to Snowvale, Grell’s home town because big plane companies didn’t fly all the way there. The second plane they took was far from comfortable, it was small but rather empty, Ronald found out that it wasn’t a destination many people chose. The airport wasn’t even in the same town, it was in the outsides and they had to take a 40 minute cab to get to the town. It was indeed as small as Grell had told him, she explained that it took 30 minutes to go from one side of the town to the other. In the cab, Grell couldn’t stop fiddling with her bracelet nervously, it had been 7 years since she had last set foot in her home town… The cab dropped them off directly at the cemetery, they walked past many tombstones until they found the one Grell was searching for. It was a single tombstone for both of her mother and sister, Grell hadn’t had enough money for two so, she asked if they could be buried in the same one.

‘In loving memory of Catherine and Angelina Dalles, may they rest in peace.’ The head stone said.

Grell got down on her knees to deliver her flowers when she noticed that there was already a bouquet of white roses. Weird… she was the only one who knew that those where her mother’s favorite flowers… She quickly put that thought aside before laying her bouquet next to the other.

“Hello Ma, hey Ann. It’s me, Grell. I know it’s been a while since I’ve come to see you and I’m sorry.” She spoke, feeling a knot in her stomach, she missed them so much and there wasn’t a day that she didn’t think of them but somehow being in front of their tombstone made it worse.  

“I miss you so much, I wish you were still here with me…” She hugged herself as she started crying. Ronald put a hand on her shoulder, softly, trying to show her his support. She looked up at him and smiled. “Ma, Ann, this is my best friend Ronald, but I call him Ronnie, I wish you would have known him, you’d love him…” she said as she removed her glasses and whipped away her tears before getting up.

“Goodbye Ma, Ann; I’ll come back before I leave but right now we’re going to a motel since it’s late. I love you both, so much.” She said as she kissed her fingers and pressed them against the headstone.

 

After leaving the cemetery, they walked through the town in search of the motel, Grell remembered there was one but she wasn’t sure where.

“Maybe we should ask for directions?” Ronald suggested as he was getting tired of walking.

“It would be a great idea, if there was anyone on the streets or places open at this hour…”

“Look, that place seems open.” Ronald said as he pointed at a shop.

“Red Carneau…” Grell read the shop sign as they got closer “It has the word Red in it, I like it!” she said with a small chuckle as they got inside.

Not even seconds after going in, Ronald started sneezing and the smell of animals infested the atmosphere. A pet shop? The sound of birds chirping could be heard. A bird shop then? Grell took a few steps in direction of one of the cages and looked inside, Ronald followed her as he covered his mouth.

“Pigeons.” She said as she looked at the bird in the cage. She pressed her index and middle finger to her lips as she leaned in and took a closer look to the bird.

“Did you know that in India it is believed that when a person dies, their soul assumes the form of a pigeon?” she commented

“Really? How do you know that?” Ronald asked, his voice a bit muffled by his hand.

“Someone from my past told me that…” She said a sad smile forming on her lips.

 

“I’m sorry for taking so long, I normally don’t receive customers this late, how can I help you?” A voice said behind them, making Grell step away from the cage and whirled around to face the person.

“Actually we aren’t customers, we a-’’ Grell’s eyes went wide, she slapped a hand over her mouth in surprise and she felt like all air was removed from her lungs…

“Will?!” she gasped


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone, sorry I took so much time to update, I wanted to update before but my life got in the way.  
> Anyway~~ ENJOY!!~~

 

“What are you doing here?” Grell asked, not entirely sure whether or not this entire situation was a dream. It had been 7 years since she had last seen William T. Spears, and with how they parted ways, she never thought she’d ever have the chance of speaking to him again.

“I live here, this is my shop.” Will answered

“How long have you lived here? why aren’t you in the city, running your father’s business?!”

“I’ve been here for 4 years now, it’s a long story Grell, but I’ll explain everything to you.”

Grell couldn’t believe they were talking so casually, as if they had last seen each other the week before. She couldn’t believe he wasn’t living in the city, all those times she went to charity events or big dinners, she’d always get nervous, wondering if this was the moment she’d run into him again. He came from a very wealthy family, it wouldn’t have been something out of the ordinary to run into each other at least once, but it had never happened. It made sense now that they had never crossed paths… Grell was about to answer something when the sound of Ronald sneezing made her forget what she was about to say.

“Oh, right! Will, this is my best friend Ronald Knox, Ronnie, this is William T. Spears, he’s my… childhood best friend.” She said, introducing them.

“Nice to meet you but if it’s not too much trouble could you tell us where the motel is, I’d like to get there before I die.” Ronald asked, still holding his hand over his mouth. William frowned, clearly confused.

“Ronnie is deadly allergic to birds.” Grell pointed out

“Actually, this used to be the motel but they wanted to expand so I bought the building. The motel is now located on main street, near the supermarket.” Will said, moving from behind the counter and closer to Grell.

“I knew my memory couldn’t be that bad…” She mumbled, mostly to herself.

“You could stay at my house for tonight. I have a spear room, that way, we could catch up, Grell.” William spoke as he took a few steps closer to the red head. Grell swallowed and nodded. “Yes, that sounds like a lovely idea! Thank you Will.” She smiled

William led them through the back, which lead to an elevator that took them upstairs, where his penthouse was. It was smaller than Grell’s own penthouse but was still huge. Everything looked like it was patterned straight out of an IKEA catalog, the walls where white and there were no pictures or decorations that made it look like someone actually lived there. It would have looked weird to anyone that didn’t know William but not to Grell.

“Ronald, I’ll show you to the guest room and Grell, you can stay in my room, I’ll sleep on the couch.” William announced

“I won’t kick you out of your room! I can sleep with Ronnie!” Grell said but William immediately shook his head. “No way, you’ll sleep in my room and that’s final.” He said, pushing his glasses back against the bridge of his nose.

Once Ronald was installed in the guest room, William showed Grell to his room. There was an awkward silence between them and Grell intended to break it.

“So, you said you’d have some explaining to do?” She asked, looking at him as he pushed the door of his bedroom open.

“uh, Yes. I will be doing that shortly.” Will turned on the light, in the center of the room was a queen size bed, the sheets were black as well as the pillows. There was a small white bedside table on the left side, which Grell assumed was the side where William slept. On the table there was a small lamp and an alarm clock but still, no pictures. At the other end of the room where two doors, and as Grell looked at them, William spoke up.

“The door on the right is the bathroom, the one on the left is the walk in closet. There is a plug near the bedside table if you need to charge your phone.”

“Thank you Will.” Grell took a few steps into the room, placing her suitcase on the floor near the bed before setting her purse on top of it. She took her scarf and coat off, placing them on the bed. She was wearing a red turtle neck and some black skinny jeans with red heeled boots. She sat on the end of the bed, and started unlacing her boots when she looked at the door and saw that William was still there, staring at her. He seemed to catch her gaze because he quickly averted his eyes from hers.

“I’m so sorry, I hadn’t meant to keep staring at you. It’s just… it’s been so long since I’ve last seen you and you’ve… changed.” He said, a small smile playing on his lips as he said those words. “I’ll wait for you in the living room.” He added quickly before leaving.

Grell finished to untie her shoes, she turned off the light of the room and walked to the living room where William had turned on the light and was sitting on the sofa. Grell sat on an arm chair that was near the window, pulling her legs up and crossing them.

“Would you like some tea?” William asked slowly

“I would love to, thank you!”

Will got up and walked towards the open kitchen, from where Grell was sitting, she could see every movement he made. He turned on the stove before putting some water in a pot and started boiling it. He came back in no time with two cups, one black and one white. He handed the white one to Grell, which she gladly took. Her manicured red nails making contrast with the white porcelain. She tried a sip from her tea and found out it wasn’t as hot as she’d expect, it was just the right temperature.

“Cinnamon tea, it’s good.” She commented, there was a long silence as both of them sipped their tea quietly until William cleared his throat a bit.

“So, you’re an actress, I’ve seen some of your movies, you’re really talented.” He spoke

“Thank you.” She said softly before looking at him, her glasses where slightly fogged because of the hot tea but she still managed to see him.

“Why did you break all contact 7 years ago? And why then? You knew I was having such a hard time and you just abandoned me…” Grell spoke again.

“That was never my intention, my father… he changed my phone number but I wrote to you, I wrote you emails and letters but you never responded.” William spoke, setting his empty tea cup on the coffee table in front of him.

“How would I have responded to you? It’s not like I had money to keep paying for the internet or my cell phone bill. I certainly couldn’t keep paying for rent after my mom died. I tried calling you so many times when I got to the city but you never answered, after running out of quarters, I stopped trying.” She raised her voice a little.

“I told you, my father changed my number, that’s why your calls where never successful.” Will said and then paused, letting what Grell had said sink into his brain. “You came to the city?”

“Yes, I took the last bit of money that was in my mom’s bank account and bought a ticket, I came to see you but I had no idea where you lived so I used a payphone to call you but you didn’t answer. After a few failed attempts, I stayed at a motel until I could decide what to do next, I had nowhere to go and no idea how to find you in this huge city. I was running out of money to live by after only a week, I tried calling a few times every day while I looked for a job but, no one wanted to hire a girl that only had her high school degree.” Grell answered more calmly than before.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea. If I’d only known you where there I would have dropped everything and rushed to your help, you know I would have.” William said.

“I know you would have. But thankfully, I met Sebastian, he helped me out.” Grell said as she twisted the wedding ring on her finger, looking down at her hands.

There was a moment of silence before either of them dared to speak again. It was William who broke the silence. “I had a plan you know, I had been putting money aside in a bank account… Once I finished my studies, I wanted to come back to get you. I wanted to give you the life you’d always dreamed off. I came back, but when I arrived to your old apartment the landlord said you hadn’t been living there for a year… I had no idea you came to the city to find me.”

Grell let out a bitter laugh “What were you expecting? That I would have waited around for you for a year? without any new from you? I would have stayed here and do what huh?” she asked, looking up again, their eyes meeting again. She was in the verge of tears but tried hard to keep them from spilling.

“I guess I didn’t have everything as planned out as I thought…” Will said, swallowing. “I was ready to do everything in my power to find you but then… I saw you on TV, they were announcing your marriage to this billionaire model so I didn’t even bother to look for you. You looked so happy, I couldn’t possibly come in the way of your happiness and I knew it would only create unnecessary drama if I contacted you, so I just hoped you’d forgotten about me and let you live the life you were entitled to.”

Grell blinked a couple of times, before letting out a dry laugh, running a hand through her red locks but didn’t answer anything. There was nothing to say, nothing of what she could say would erase the past. She couldn’t say how she wished William would have contacted her after he saw her on TV, she couldn’t curse at how she hated his father for changing his number and robbing her of the chance of getting in contact with him. She wouldn’t say anything because it wouldn’t change a single thing. She’d still be at the point in her life where she was now…

“I’m sorry things had to happen the way they did, but at least something good came out of this. You finally have everything you always dreamed of, right?” Will spoke again, pulling Grell out of her thoughts.

“Yes, I guess things turned out for the best.” She said, looking away. She couldn’t possibly tell William that she was unhappy, not when there was nothing she could do to change the situation she was in. It was better to lie, better for both of them.

She got up from the arm chair, placing her empty cup next to Will’s on the small table.

“I should get some sleep.” She said, still not daring to look William in the eyes, afraid he’d be able to tell that something was wrong.

“Yes, you should! Feel free to wake up at any time you’d like, Good Night Grell!” Will said before getting up as well but didn’t move an inch.

Grell made her way out of the living room when William spoke again.

“You look beautiful.” He spoke in a low voice, so low that if there hadn’t been absolute silence in the room, she wouldn’t have heard him. She turned around and smiled softly at him. “Thank you, good night Will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!~~  
> Don't forget to leave a comment down below to tell me what you think, your comments are what keeps me going~ ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ and see you next time~~ ❤ ☆


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I know it's been so long I haven't updated I'm so sorry, It's been a rough couple of months but finally, the new chapter is up~ I hope you guys will enjoy it!!~

 

When Grell woke up, it was way past noon. She hadn’t slept for so long in a while, she took a moment to stretch before putting on her glasses and getting out of bed.

She still couldn’t believe she had been reunited with William after such a long time but, her surrounding only confirmed that it wasn’t a dream.

She made her way to Will’s bathroom after taking her toiletries out of her suitcase and, after brushing her hair, her teeth and putting on her morning facial cream; she changed out of her pajamas into some new clothes, putting on a long-sleeved red dress that hugged every curve of her body.

Once she was finished with applying her makeup, she left the room and found Ronald leaning against the kitchen island with a cup of what she assumed was coffee in his hands.

“Morning.” She greeted him with a smile.

“Morning Senpai.”

Grell looked around the kitchen and towards the living room in hopes of catching sight of William, but sadly he was nowhere to be found.

“He’s at the shop, something about having to feed the pigeons, but he asked me to tell you when you woke up that you can feel free to use the kitchen however you’d like,” Ronald said before continuing to sip at his cup of coffee.

Grell looked at the kitchen for a while, wondering if she should make some tea but then she decided against it.

“I’ll be back soon.” She announced before rushing out of the apartment, her shoes in hand before putting them on as she waited for the elevator to arrive.

She slowly pushed the back door of Will’s shop, entering as quietly as she could. There he was, feeding a baby pigeon with a syringe. Grell observed him for a little while, admiring how gently he held the bird while he fed it.

“It’s so tiny.” She spoke softly, hoping she wouldn’t scare Will or the pigeon.

William turned to look at Grell for a second to let her know he had acknowledged her presence, before turning his attention back to the small bird.

“Do you want to hold him?” He asked as Grell got closer to them.

“No, I’m fine. I wouldn’t want to hurt him, he’s so small.” She said, looking over Will’s shoulder.

“You won’t hurt him.” William insisted, placing the syringe on the table in front of him.

Grell shook her head “I’m really not comfortable with holding a baby pigeon, I’m not even sure I’m comfortable with holding an adult, I haven’t held one since…” she trailed off, swallowing the last words, not daring to let them escape her mouth.

“Since Blue?” William asked, raising an eyebrow “You can talk about her you know, it’s been so many years since she passed.”

Grell blinked a couple of times, surprised. “It’s just… you never wanted to even talk about her after she died so I wasn’t sure if it was still a sensitive subject to talk about.” She said, watching as William put the baby bird back into its cage.

“I know, I didn’t handle her death well, but now, so many years have passed. I’m still sad about it when I remember her but, we can talk about it.” He said, getting closer to Grell, his eyes scanning her face. She nodded after a short while but replied nothing.

“Have you eaten anything?” Will asked after a moment of silence

“No.”

“Why not? Has your friend not told you that I said you could use the kitchen?” Will asked, moving away from Grell and started putting away the supplies he had been using earlier to feed his birds.

“I don’t know how to cook, remember?” She said before sitting on the chair that Will was occupying a few moments prior, it was still warm when she sat down.

William stopped everything that he was doing and turned around to face Grell again, frowning. “I thought you would have learned by now? How can you not know how to cook?! How do you survive? You can’t eat take outs all the time, it’s not good for you.”

Grell chuckled and rolled her eyes “I have a chef that cooks my meals, that’s one of the perks of marrying a billionaire.”

“Oh. Right.” Will turned around again and continued putting the supplies away and for a moment Grell wondered if she had ruined everything by mentioning her husband until Will spoke again.

“How about we go get something to eat? I imagine your friend hasn’t eaten anything either, it could be a good opportunity to show him around town.”

“Good idea.” Grell agreed and went back to the apartment to get her coat and Ronald.

 

20 minutes later, they were sitting at ‘the coffee shop’ where they served breakfast, sandwiches and all types of pastries. It was small and cozy.

“I can’t believe that ‘the coffee shop’ hasn’t changed at all,” Grell exclaimed as they waited for their food to arrive.

“I can’t believe that this place is called ‘the coffee shop’. Couldn’t they be a little bit more creative when it came to the name?” Ronald mumbled as he looked around.

Grell chuckled and looked at Will, remembering how he had told her something similar when they were children. The food arrived quickly, she had ordered something simple, eggs and bacon. Ronald had ordered a chicken sandwich and William some French toast.

They all ate in silence and it wasn’t until they were finished with their food that Ronald decided to interrupt the awkward silence.

“I can’t believe no one has asked for our autographs yet.” He leaned into his palm as he watched Grell sip at her glass of water.

“It’s a small town, I doubt many people will know who you are. You’re not that famous.” Will spoke, pushing his glasses back on the bridge of his nose.

Ronald glared at Will “just because you didn’t know who I was, doesn’t mean no one else will.” He said before turning his attention back to Grell.

“Are you going to show me where you used to live, Grell?” The redhead almost chocked on her water as she heard her friend’s question.

“You don’t want to know where I lived…” She said with a grimace.

“No, I really do.” The blond boy responded, nodding enthusiastically “I know you come from a poor background and I don’t care. You’ll still be my best friend, no matter what.”

That statement made Grell avert her eyes from her friend, she felt terrible, she had barely told him anything about her past when she knew everything about his.

She knew everything about him but he knew practically nothing about who she truly is. He has no idea she’s transgender, he has no idea that she has to take anti-androgens and have estrogen injections, he has no idea has to have doctor appointments every 6 months to check on her health.

She wanted to tell him, but she was scared, scared of how he would react, scared to lose her only friend. She couldn’t afford to lose Ronald, if it hadn’t been thanks to him, she wouldn’t have had the strength to go through all of the difficult situations in those last years. She needed him, he was her family. Maybe one day she’d fine the courage to tell him but not now.

“Grell, are you okay?” Will’s voice brought her out of her thoughts and into the reality.

She nodded before looking at Ronald again “okay, I’ll take you to see where I lived.”

A few minutes passed and Will was about to get up and pay for their meal when Ronald insisted that he wanted to be the one to pay and rushed towards the cashier with the bill, insisting that Grell and Will waited for him outside.

It all made sense to Grell when she saw the cute girl that was working at the register, she had maroon-red hair, tied in high pigtails, and she had round glasses and wore her uniform which consisted of a black t-shirt and black pants. Grell chuckled and gave Ronald the thumbs up before pulling Will out of the coffee shop.

The minutes they spent outside waiting for Ronald were spent in silence and soon enough, the blond boy came back with a huge smile on his face.

“I got her number, we’re going out to dinner tonight.” He declared, proud of himself.

“Good for you Ronnie.” Grell said as she smiled at her friend.

“So, now, how do we go to your old house, senpai?” Ronald asked as he kept looking at the napkin where the girl’s the phone number was written on.

“Now, we walk.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update this chapter (シ_ _)シ, thank you so much to everyone who is still reading this story, thank you for your patience!! (つ≧▽≦)つ✧☆♡

 

Grell stopped in front of the old building, her hands on her hips as she stood in front of what used to be her old home.

“Wow, Sutcliff senpai, your old house was so pretty!” Ronald exclaimed next to her. The redhead frowned and looked at her friend as if he had grown a second head.

She was about to ask if he had lost his mind but then she followed his eyes and saw that he wasn’t looking at her old building but the house right next to it.

“That’s not my house.” She said nudging the blond in the arm “That’s where I lived.” She pointed to the three-story building.

Ronald stayed quiet for a while as if he was waiting for her friend to say it was a joke.

“You must be really shocked to see your old building so run down after all of these years senpai…”

Grell looked at her friend and then at the monument in front of her before shaking her head “It’s always been like that…”

“Oh… who owned the house next door? It’s big and relatively new compared to the other houses in town.” Ronald asked

“That used to be my house,” William said, speaking for the first time since they had left the coffee shop. “My father had this house built for us when we moved here, the land was cheap so it barely cost us anything.”

Ronald nodded, before looking back at the house.

“So you guys were neighbors?” The redhead nodded in affirmation, slowly getting filled with nostalgia.

Grell’s building and William’s house were very close, only separated by a wall that arrived just below the balcony of the house.

“Do you see the window that’s on the second floor, the one that’s at the same height that the house’s balcony?” she asked

Ronald hummed.

“That was the window of my room.”

“and let me guess, William’s room was the one with the balcony?” her friend guessed.

“Yup, since there is only 1 meter that separated us, I used to climb down from my window to the wall and climb up to Will’s balcony.” She said with a chuckle, turning to look at William, who was standing behind her.

 

They stood there for some time before it began to get colder and colder by the minute.

“We should probably get back, it’s getting dark.” William said, interrupting the silence.

“Yeah, I should get going, I have a date.” Ronald added quickly, turning around to prepare himself to leave but Grell didn’t move an inch, her eyes were glued to her old room’s window.

“Grell?”

“I want to go in.” She said

“What?!” Both William and Ronald asked, looking at her confused.

“I want to see my old apartment.” The redhead repeated, her hair blowing in her face because of the wind.

“Okay.” William said quietly “We’ll come back tomorrow.”

“No. I need to go in now.” Grell responded and before anyone could say anything else, she began walking towards the building, slowly pushing the metal gate, making it creak.

Ronald looked at Grell and then behind him as if he was trying to decide between following his friend or going to his date. Somehow, William seemed to notice “Go on your date, I’ll go with her.”

The blond stared at William, wondering if he should really leave his best friend alone at night with someone he barely knew but slowly nodded. “Okay, but take good care of her, if something happens to her, I’ll kill you.”

“No need to worry, I would never let anything happen to her.”

 

Once Ronald had turned around and started to leave, William quickly rushed behind Grell and up the spiraling staircase that lead to the second floor.

He arrived on the second floor and found Grell standing in front of the door of her old apartment, her manicured hand holding onto the doorknob.

“Grell? Are you okay?”

“I-I don’t know… I-I haven’t been back here since my mom and my sister died…” She said, her voice barely a whisper. William put a hand on her shoulder to encourage her.

“Whatever you choose to do is okay, I’m here for you.”

After a moment of gathering her courage, Grell finally decided to go in. Since the building wasn’t occupied by anyone, the doors weren’t locked.

There wasn’t any more furniture but even with the walls bare, deprived of all the pictures that once framed the tiny apartment, it still felt like home to Grell.

She could still feel her mom’s love as if it had been etched onto the walls where she loved to hang countless of pictures and paintings.

Grell could still remember how her mom moved every painting from place to place, never satisfied of their emplacement.

How her mom said that the paintings and pictures made her house feel a home; she remembered thinking how much she wanted to one day, be able to give her mother a huge house with infinity of walls that she could decor like she wanted without not having enough walls or space to move things around to her liking.

The front door led to a small kitchen, Grell could still see where their small dining table was situated. Right next to the kitchen, there was a small space where the living room used to be.

Grell could still see the small beige sofa her mother adored, the wooden coffee table where she used to eat breakfast on as a kid, in front of the TV. The big flat screen TV in front of the coffee table, which her mother had won at a price draw at their local mall.

Grell then moved towards the bedrooms, three small bedrooms.

The one closer to the family room was her mother’s room, the redhead walked past it, not finding the courage to go inside yet, she went to her old room first, looking at the familiar walls, where her bed, dresser, and desk used to be.

Slowly, she walked towards her window, she could see what used to be William’s balcony, remembering the countless of memories they had, nostalgia quickly taking over her.

Next, she went to her sister’s room, she remembered how her sister would put makeup on her and play dress up when she was little, or how she would sneak in and steal her sister’s high heels when she was older, which drove Ann mad.

Finally, Grell stood in front of what used to be her mother’s old room.

She slowly twisted the handle making the door groan as it opened. As the redhead stepped in, her eyes filled with tears. She could see where her mom’s bed used to be, how they spent so many nights talking.

She remembered how she’d tell her problems to her mom and how she always listened to her, even when her eyes were closing from the lack of sleep, after working so many hours, she struggled to stay awake so she’d be able to listen to her daughter.

Grell left quickly what used to be her mother’s room, it was too painful to stand there, she barely felt the tears that run down her cheeks but she knew they were there, she needed to breathe but no air would fill her lungs, she rushed back towards the front door, where William was waiting for her.

As soon as he saw her, he moved towards her to comfort her but she ran past him and down the stairs, she needed to get out.

She only stopped once she stood in front of the gate, at the entrance of the building.

There, she finally lost all control and started crying, she felt her knees buckle, preparing herself mentally to hit the ground but the hard concrete never came, instead, strong arms held her up.

“I’ve got you.” She heard William whisper before she threw her arms around his torso and buried her face against his chest, crying her eyes out.  


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we'll have William's point of view in part of this chapter~ ENJOY!

Grell wasn't sure how much time had passed since she had started crying in William's arms but at some point, it had started raining, mixing her tears with the water, soaking them both to the bone but William didn't pressure her into moving, even though standing under the rain in mid-October couldn't do them any good, he waited patiently until she was done sobbing to help her up.

"Grell, let's go, you're going to get sick if we stay in the rain longer." He said, his voice low as if he was scared to speak louder.

"You can also get sick, you idiot," Grell said, looking at William but seeing everything blurry because of the droplets of water on her glasses, she knew William was having it worse than her since he was practically blind without his glasses.

"We should go back inside the building and wait for the rain to calm down, we won't be able to go anywhere."

William nodded, agreeing with her before taking her by the hand and rushing half blindly back into the building. They sat down at the end of the staircase before doing their best to dry their glasses even if they just ended up making the glass even more opaque and hard to see through, but it was better than wet glasses.

Grell looked up at Will, who had his bangs stuck to his forehead because of the rain, she smiled and gently, she lifted a hand and pushed his bangs back. “I remember when you used to wear your hair like that all the time, no hair gel, nothing. You were so handsome.”

“Am I not handsome in your eyes anymore?” He asked, his face remaining blank, no trace of emotion. Grell chuckled and shook her head “Quite the contrary.”

For a moment, they sat there in silence, looking at each other. There were so many things Grell wanted to say to him but somehow nothing came to her mind at that moment. Only one thing: she wanted to kiss him. She had fantasized about that moment on so many occasions, it never happened.

The redhead leaned in a little closer, their faces only inches apart but dared not to close the gap. It was the same as years ago, always the same fear. _‘What if he rejects me’_. Grell swore she felt Will move closer as if to close the gap between them, as if he also, wanted to kiss her. But what could have been a kiss was interrupted by Grell’s sneeze.

“Sorry!” She said, covering her nose and mouth with one of her hands.

The redhead watched as Will moved away and took off his jacket before placed it on her shoulders. She blushed slightly, the jacket smelled like him, even after being soaked by the rain, his scent had not washed away.

Some time passed, they weren’t sure how much, it could have been minutes but it felt like hours; they stayed in silence until Grell’s sneezes had become more frequent and she had started shivering.

“It looks like the rain has stopped, we should use this as an opportunity to leave before it starts raining again,” William said, getting up from the stairs and held his hand to Grell so he could help her stand up. She took his hand and as soon as she stood up, she felt dizzy but pretended like everything was fine.

 

After a little while, they finally made it back to William’s home, the rain hadn’t started again, thankfully for them.

Grell wasn’t sure how she was still able to stand, her head was throbbing and he vision was getting more and more blurry as time passed. All she needed to do was to do was to walk down the hall to William’s room, change out of her wet clothes and she’d be able to lie down.

It was all she needed to do but her body did not allow her to do that, as soon as they stepped inside the loft, Grell felt dizzy again, it had happened to her so many times that she recognized the feeling instantly. She was going to pass out.

“Will… I…-“his name barely left her lips but it was all that she could manage to say before everything went black.

 

                                                                                                    ______________________________ 

 

William turned around when he heard Grell say his name just in time to catch her as she fell. Her face was flushed and she was sweating. He pressed his hand against her forehead and confirmed what he was already suspecting, she had a fever. He carried Grell to his room, before realizing that leaving her in her wet clothes would only make everything worse.

He needed to get her out of her clothes.  

William’s heart began to race at the thought of undressing the woman that he loved but quickly made those inappropriate thoughts leave his mind as her health was his priority. He had seen people undressing others while unconscious in movies but never in his life, he thought he’d be doing it or that it would be such a hard task to perform.

William dressed Grell in his clothes as he didn’t dare to go through her suitcase. Once that was done, he put a towel over the pillowcase to lay down her hair and head carefully, thankfully it wasn’t damped anymore but only slightly wet. He carefully covered her with the duvet before going to get a cloth, wetting it with cold water before putting it on her forehead.

He quickly changed his own clothes before taking a chair from the dining room, he took a small bucket and filled it with cold water to wash the cloth on Grell’s forehead, placing it on his bedside table before sitting down in front of the bed.

Grell opened her eyes soon after but quickly fell asleep, William kept wetting the cloth on her forehead until the water wasn’t cold anymore and he got up to replace it before sitting back down again, at some point he noticed the clock indicating 4 am but he barely paid it any attention as his focus was on Grell and her getting better, his eyes were barely staying open so he kept slapping his own cheeks to stay awake. He could not fall asleep, he had to take care of her.

 

William couldn’t remember at what point he had fallen asleep but he woke up the next morning, still in the same chair but he had a blanket over him, and that the bucket of water wasn’t on the bedside table anymore. He noticed after a minute that the blanket that was draped over him was the one from his living room.

“You look so disoriented.” Grell’s voice rang in his ears. He looked at her and there she was, sitting down on the bed in front of him, a smile on her face as she looked at him. “Did you take care of me the whole night?”

He nodded, pushing his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose before leaning in and pressed a hand to her forehead.

“You don’t have a fever anymore, that’s good.” He sighed in relief

“How did I change my clothes?!” Grell screamed as she took off the covers from on top of her, looking at herself in clothes that did not belong to her.

“I changed you.” William answered, matter of factly, pushing his glasses against the bridge of his nose once more.

“Y-You what?!” Grell’s face was bright red by now, looking at William with wide eyes. She quickly took her glasses from the bedside table and put them.

“What did you expect me to do? I couldn’t leave you in wet clothes, you would have gotten sicker.” William said, taking the blanket off him, getting up and rolling it into a ball before putting it on the chair. “How are you feeling? Can you stand, or do you need my help?” he asked at Grell’s lack of response, clearly not finding an argument good enough to contradict him.

She moved, slowly getting up but sitting back down as quickly as she stood. “I still feel slightly dizzy… but, I want to take a shower.”

William shook his head “No shower, you might lose consciousness again. I’ll draw you a bath, wait here.” He said before going to the bathroom and turned on the bathtub faucet before taking out a fresh towel and putting it close to the tub so Grell could reach it without any difficulties, then, he went back to the room to get her some new clothes, still not taking out her clothes. Once he had checked that the bath was warm enough but not too hot, he went back to get Grell.

“I’ve laid out some fresh clothes of mine, I won’t go through your belongings.” He said making Grell laugh at his words as he helped her up and into the bathroom.

“I’ll be making breakfast, be careful not to fall, call me if you still don’t feel well enough to walk after the bath.” He said before moving closer to the bathroom door.

“I’m not made of glass Will darling, I’ll be alright,” Grell said with a chuckle

William’s heart skipped a beat as he heard Grell call him darling, it had been years since he had last heard her call him that. That nickname that he used to dislike, now, made his chest warm. He went to make breakfast, making toast, wanting to make something quick that would still taste good even cold, not knowing how much time Grell would take in the shower.

He was putting on the table when he saw her arrive in his oversized sweater and sweat pants, her face without any makeup and her long red hair still wet, droplets of water cascading down her shoulders and past her hips.

“What are you doing with your hair wet? You’re going to get sick again.” William scolded her, putting down the silverware on the table before getting closer to Grell. “Come on, you need to dry your hair.”

“I’ll do it, after eating, come on Will~ I’m starving! ~” Grell whined but William wasn’t going to change his mind.

“No way, you’re drying it now, I’m not taking care of you again tonight.” He grumbled before pulling her along.

“Sit down.” He ordered, Grell complied and sat down on the bed. William went to get the hairdryer before plugging it close to the bed. He slowly took her wet hair in one of his hand before turning on the hairdryer with the other, starting to dry her hair.

“Will? What-“ Grell tried to ask what he was doing, clearly surprised by his actions.

“You’re too lazy to do it yourself and I’m not ruining my night of sleep by looking after you again so someone has to do it.” He simply answered as he gently blow-dried her hair.

Grell didn’t say anything more and he didn’t add anything either.

Was this what their daily lives could have been if only he had the courage to confess his feelings? He wouldn’t have minded taking care of Grell for the rest of his life but it wasn’t his place. He always wondered what if would have been like if she had been his… She wasn’t his, she could never be his because she already belonged to someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!~☆, if you want you can send me asks on my  
> [TUMBLR](http://kuronezushi.tumblr.com/) or just talk to me~ ~ ❤ ☆


	6. Chapter 6

They sat at the dining table, eating their breakfast in silence as William debated in his mind how to ask Grell about the bruises he'd seen on her body.

He tried to pretend he hadn't seen them but the image couldn't leave his mind. How did she get those? She had so many bruises...

Some looked old, almost faded but some looked fresh, not more than a few days old.

As they finished their food, William decided it was the perfect timing to ask, it was now or never.

"Grell, when I was undressing you, I saw you had a lot of bruises, how did you get them? Did someone do this to you?" He asked, his tone serious.

William swore he could have seen Grell tense at his words but maybe it was only his imagination because she started laughing.

"I'm an actress but do my own stunts, most of them at least, that's how I get the bruises. I'm not going to have them pay people for something I'm more than capable of doing." She said, smiling at him.

William let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he felt so relieved but still worried. "That's dangerous, they have people who do that for you for a reason... you should let them do their job and stick to yours." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Grell rolled her eyes playfully, a smile playing on her lips. "You're so cute~, haven't changed at all my darling~~" she purred before getting out of her chair and made her way to William's side, placing a hand on his cheek so quickly that he had barely time to react.

He only froze in place as he felt her cold fingertips on his skin. His heart was beating so loudly that he worried that she could hear it.

It became worse as he saw her lean in, her face inches from his, he looked directly into her beautiful green eyes before looking at her lips, how they were so plump and pink...

He leaned in, eager to close the gap, not caring at all in this moment that she belonged to someone else. Their lips were almost touching, he could feel her breath on his face.

He needed to lean in just a little more and...

"Hello, I'm back~~" Ronald's voice echoed in the loft as he opened the front door.

William quickly moved away from Grell, cursing Ronald in his mind but also scolding himself and how he almost committed a big mistake. She was married.

"Oh? Did I interrupt something?" Ronald asked as he made his way into the dining area.

Both Grell and Will blushed.

"Of course not, don't be stupid, we were just talking." William said before getting up from his seat, clearing his throat before moving past Ronald and towards the front door.

"I need to feed my pigeons." He said before leaving the loft.

                          

                        ____________________________

 

Grell groaned as she sat down on William's chair. "I'm such an idiot..." she mumbled, putting her hands on the table to support her chin as she rested it on her palms.

Ronald raised an eyebrow and pulled the other chair close to her and sat down.

"What do you mean? Did I actually interrupt something?"

"Kind of." Grell mumbled before groaning again in frustration.

"I was going to kiss Will..." she said, looking at Ronald to see the reaction on his face.

As expected, his face was priceless, it was the perfect mix of confusion and excitement.

"You... what? You like him!!" Ronald exclaimed.

Grell blushed slightly, she had never admitted that out loud to anyone.

She shook her head slightly, "I love him. I've loved him for most of my life, I thought those feelings were gone but seeing him again made me realize that they never went away."

Ronald's eyes grew wide as a grin formed on his lips. "You have to tell him!"

Grell sighed, shaking her head again. "No way, there is no way I'm telling him. He doesn't even love me back, plus, even if he did, it would be useless, we can't be together."

Ronald rolled his eyes at her before getting up. "Even with your glasses on you're still blind, it's obvious that he has feelings for you too." He had just the time to see the surprise on her face before he turned away and left the loft.

 

                          ______________________

 

William was feeding the baby pigeon, carefully holding it.

He tried to concentrate on his work but he couldn't help thinking about Grell again.

"You're welcome by the way." William almost jumped in fear, turning around to see Ronald, grinning at him.

"What?" He asked as he turned his attention back to his task in hand.

"I said "you're welcome", I was the one who covered you with the blanket yesterday you know, had it not been for me, you would have caught a cold." The blonde said before sneezing, he took a tissue from his pocket and held it against his nose.

"Ah, that was you. Thank you." William said before putting down the feeding bottle on the desk, getting up and went to put the small pigeon back into its cage.

"Why don't you just confess to her already? It's obvious that you love her."

William was thankful that he wasn't facing Ronald otherwise his face would have given away his emotions.

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't love her." He said before turning around and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Ronald snorted "Don't lie, it's obvious you do. She feels the same for you in case you were wondering..."

Will frowned and shook his head, he couldn't get his hopes up. "It's impossible, she's married." He said before starting to clean up his feeding supplies.

Ronald sighed "She doesn't love that son of a bitch."

William raised his head to look at Ronald "If she doesn't, then why does she stay married to him?"

Ronald shrugged "out of fear, probably..." He had never managed to get an answer out of her but maybe William would be able to.

Will dropped the supplies on the floor, breaking them on impact but he couldn't care less. "Fear? Those it has anything to do with the bruises I saw on her?" He asked and judging by the look on Ronald's face, he was right.

The blond nodded, the smile on his face long gone. "Talk to her, she won't talk to me but maybe she'll talk to you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone, I'm back, Sorry I took so much time to update, I had really bad writer's block and then I went on a month vacation to see my best friend but now I'm back and finally wrote a new chapter!

Grell tossed and turned, she had gone to bed a while ago but was still wide awake, unable to sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking that in one day she’d be leaving, leaving Will and going back to her normal life, her nightmare of a life. It was the last thing she wanted but she had no other choice. 

 

She’s thirsty so after what felt like an eternity of staring at the ceiling, Grell decided to get up and go get herself a glass of water. She puts on her glasses before grabbing her silk red robe from the bathroom and puts it on before leaving the room. She didn’t bother with turning on the lights, the last thing she wanted was to wake up and bother William but when she passed by the living room, she realizes that he’s not there. She wonders where he could be, before realizing that he’s probably still working. After getting that glass of water, she leaves the loft, getting in the elevator and makes her way downstairs to Will’s shop. 

 

As suspected, she finds him sitting at his desk, wrapping a bag of bird seed in bubble wrap. 

 

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping, Will darling?” Grell asks, moving from the elevator door towards his desk. As expected, William jumps a little in fear, not expecting anyone to be up at 4 in the morning. 

 

“I need to finish packaging those orders so I can take them to the post office tomorrow,” William says, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looks up at Grell as she takes a seat on the chair in front of him. 

 

“You shouldn’t be working over time, it’s not good for you.” 

 

“I have a lot of things to do and not enough time to do it,” William responds and Grell feels guilty because it’s her fault that William spent most of his day out with her, revisiting her hometown. 

 

“I’m sorry.” She says

William looks up from his package and frowns, “It’s not your fault.” He states because it never crossed his mind that it could be Grell’s fault that he hadn’t had enough time to do his job. “What are you doing up?” 

 

“I couldn’t sleep.” She answers. Will doesn’t ask her anything more because he can only imagine what is going on in her head. Since he’s discovered the truth about Grell’s husband, William has tried to talk to her about it on countless occasions but each time he failed miserably. Even though he tried not to think about it, he was aware that Grell’s stay was coming to an end so he could only imagine what kept her up at night. 

 

He thinks about asking her about it, telling her that he knows everything but once again, he fails and does nothing. Instead, he goes back to packaging his order in silence, Grell doesn’t talk either, she just watches him and he finds out that he likes it, even if they are not talking, it feels the silence feels comfortable. 

 

It takes William one more hour to finish packaging all of his orders but Grell finds out that she doesn’t mind. Normally, she’d be bored out of her mind to stay still and do nothing but she actually enjoys watching him work, anything is good as long as she can stay by his side. 

 

It’s 5 am when William finally gets up from his chair and for the first time since Grell’s came in the room, he looks at her,  _ really _ looks at her. Her hair is in a loose braid, she’s wearing a red silk robe and she’s sitting with one leg crossed on top of the other, making her robe slide up enough to reveal her milky thigh. William has to rip his eyes away from that sight because he doesn’t need to start having inappropriate thoughts right now. 

 

“We should go upstairs.” He says, clearing his throat as he walks to the elevator. Once it arrives, William lets Grell get in first and they go back to the loft. 

 

“You should probably go to sleep, you must be tired,” Grell says once William closes the front door. 

He isn’t sure if it’s the sad tone of Grell’s voice or the fact that he doesn’t want to part with her yet but he feels courageous. He grabs her hand and squeezes it once, before pulling her down the hallway. 

 

“Come with me, I need to show you something.” 

 

                                                                         ______________

 

Grell is surprised when Will grabs her hand and pulls her down the hall, she wants to say so many things but at the same time, she’s scared that if she speaks, everything will stop and even though she doesn’t know what is going on right now, she doesn’t want it to stop. 

 

Will leads her to the end of the hallway. Past the guest bedroom where Ronald is sleeping, there is another room. Grell assumed it was a closet or a bathroom but when William opens it, she notices that it’s another room, slightly smaller than the other bedrooms in the loft but big nonetheless. There is a huge window where the moonlight is shining through and illuminating the room. Grell finds herself letting go of William’s hand and walking towards the center of the room where there was a big wooden table. Next to it, there was a single chair but what caught Grell’s attention was the huge Victorian iron birdcage on top of the table. 

 

The cage was painted black and looks like it has been made for at least a dozen birds but Grell can only see one bird inside the cage. 

She moves closer to the cage to take a closer look to the Pigeon. He looks approximately 13 inches, his beak is short and his eyes are round but what catches her attention is his color. It’s Auburn, almost red. 

 

“Wow, he’s beautiful.” She says, turning around to find Will leaning against the closed door, looking at her with a small smile on his lips. 

“She. It’s a ‘She’” he says as he peels himself from the door and joins Grell next to the cage. 

 

“It’s a pretty big room for just one pigeon.” Grell comments 

 

“She’s special, she deserves the best.” Will answers 

 

“Do you let her fly around the room sometimes?” 

 

“I do.” 

 

“Can I see?” Grell asks, looking up at Will, only realizing now how close to her he’s standing. 

 

“Sure.” He says and moves even closer to open the cage

 

“What’s her name?” Grell asks. William is about to open the cage door when he hears the redhead’s question and freezes, he moves his hands away from the cage and inhales. It takes a couple of seconds before he finally hears himself answer. “Grell. Her name is Grell.” 

 

There are so many questions that Grell wants to ask in the moment she hears William’s answer, she wants to know why he named his precious pigeon after her. Why her name? Did he just happen to like her name or was it because of the pigeon’s feathers and it reminded him of her red hair?  So many questions but none left her mouth. Instead, she found herself moving towards William, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing the gap between them, kissing him. 

 

It felt surreal, Grell was kissing William, she had dreamed of this day so many times and it was finally happening and William was kissing her back. 

If you looked closely, Will’s lips looked slightly chapped but as their lips crashed into each other, Grell found that they were softer than she expected them to be. 

What started as a chaste kiss quickly escalated into a deeper kiss, where Grell finds herself running her hands through the back of Will’s short hair as their tongues intertwined. His mouth tastes sweet and he smells like fresh laundry and shampoo but also bird seed, it’s a weird combination but Grell finds herself loving it. 

 

Will wasn’t expecting the kiss but it’s a happy surprise. He kisses her back, chastely at first, noticing that her plump lips taste like strawberry chapstick and are as soft as they look. When the kiss escalates, he finds himself wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer against his body. The only sound he can hear is the beating of his own heart. William works on instinct as their kiss grows deeper because he’s never kissed anyone before and he’s nervous, nervous that he’s not doing a good job or that he’s disappointing the woman he loves but the way Grell plays with his hair calms him down a little, making him think that maybe he’s doing things right. 

 

As they pull away to breathe, Grell opens her eyes to see Will already looking at her. His expression is soft and there is a faint blush on his cheeks which Grell finds adorable. 

 

“I love you, Grell Sutcliff, I’ve loved you since we were young and I’ve never stopped loving you since,” Will says and Grell swears her heart stops, she opens her mouth to tell him that she loves him too but stops herself from doing it. This was pointless, confessing her feelings now would not change her situation, she was married to a monster she couldn’t escape from. 

 

William frowns as he sees Grell’s expression shift to sad, he knows what she thinks and speaks before she has the chance to get a word out.

 

“If you’re going to tell me that you don’t feel the same way, don’t. I know you’re married but don’t even try to tell me that you love that bastard. I know everything, Ronald told me.” William says and watches as tears rise to Grell’s eyes and roll down her cheeks. He wipes them gently with his thumb before they reach her chin and speaks again. “Please don’t go tomorrow, don’t leave. Stay with me here, we can call a lawyer and have him send divorce papers to your husband. You’re not trapped, you can get out of this.” William was expecting his words to make Grell smile but weirdly, it only made her cry more.

 

“You don’t understand, I can’t leave him. He’ll kill me and if he knows about you, he’ll kill you too. He’s dangerous Will, like you don’t even imagine.” 

 

Will shakes his head “I’m not scared of him, I’ll never let him lay a finger on you ever again, you hear me?” he pauses for a second, wiping her tears once more before he asks “Do you love me too?” 

 

Grell nods quickly “Yes, I do, more than anything, I’ve loved you since forever.” Will smiles at that and nods “okay, then stay with me. Together, we’ll find a way to get you out of this, I promise.” 

Grell hesitates for a second but nods in agreement before pulling William into a tight hug. For the first time in forever, she feels like there is hope. 

 

Once they leave the pigeon’s room, Will accompanies Grell back to his room, he gives her a chaste kiss for goodnight and turns around to leave the room but Grell grabs him by the arm. 

 

“Please stay, I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.” She says and Will’s exhausted so he doesn’t bother to decline. He doesn’t even change into his pajamas, just puts both of their glasses on the nightstand before climbing into bed with her and holds her tightly in his arms, both quickly falling asleep. 

 

                                                                         _________________

 

Grell wake up to someone shaking her shoulder, she opens her eyes to find Ronald sitting on the bed, even if he looks blurry to her without her glasses, she can still see the look of sadness in his face. She remembers Will and looks next to her to see him still sleeping. 

 

“Ronnie, what’s wrong?” She asks in a whisper, slowly sitting up before she reaches over William to grab her glasses and put them on. 

 

“It’s Steve, he’s dead.” Steve was their co-worker, a fellow actor who played the main antagonist in the movie they were currently playing in. 

 

“What? How?” Grell asks

 

“Overdose apparently, my phone’s been blowing up with messages from my manager, you should check your phone too,” Ronald says, getting up from the bed. 

 

“Thanks for letting me know,” Grell tells him as she reaches over Will once more to get her phone from the nightstand. 

 

“You’re welcome, I’ll be in the living room, I need details.” He says, a smirk forming on his face as he glances at William who is still sleeping. 

 

Grell smiles and nods before slowly getting up from the bed and follows Ronald outside the room. 

As she sits down next to her friend in the living room, she turns on her phone for the first time since she’s been back to her hometown, letting her phone become flooded by messages and news about her co-worker's death, forgetting the reason why she kept it off all this time… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what the pigeon's [cage](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/df/30/a0/df30a031bc72c0da3c288f7a4aae9dea.jpg) looks like btw

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Everyone,  
> Don't forget to leave a comment down below to tell me what you thought ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ and see you next time~~ ❤ ☆


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